‘The Economy is Booming’ [WATCH]

Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said the U.S. economy is experiencing some of the strongest growth seen in decades, crediting President Donald Trump’s policies, major tax changes, and gains from artificial intelligence rather than Federal Reserve interest rate policy.

In remarks highlighting recent economic data, Hassett pointed to sustained growth over multiple quarters, saying the pace rivals only a handful of periods in modern American economic history.

“Well, the economy is booming. It’s really astonishing, right?” Hassett said.

“Like so if you look at the last three quarters, it’s 4% growth, 4% growth, and now we’re looking at something like 5% growth.”

Hassett noted that even the current growth figures understate the economy’s underlying performance due to recent disruptions caused by a government shutdown.

“At the 5% growth is one and a half percent lower than the real number because of the government shutdown,” he said.

According to Hassett, the current economy’s strength places it in rare company compared with past expansions.

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“And so we’re seeing numbers like we saw right at the beginning of the Reagan administration, a little bit during the.com years,” he said.

“But there have been very, very few times in American economic history where things were as strong as they are.”

Hassett directly attributed the current economic conditions to policies enacted under President Trump, arguing that changes to the tax code and business incentives have played a central role in driving growth.

“And I think that the reason is that President Trump’s policies have really, really helped,” Hassett said.

He specifically pointed to provisions within what he described as a major legislative achievement focused on taxes and investment incentives.

“So if you look at the big, beautiful bill that we’ve got expensing, we’ve got no taxes on tips, no taxes on overtime,” Hassett said.

In addition to tax policy, Hassett emphasized the role of technological advances, particularly artificial intelligence, in boosting productivity across the U.S. economy.

He said recent data show that productivity gains are directly feeding into higher gross domestic product.

“I think that the other thing that’s happening is that the artificial intelligence boom is making productivity go up for firms all around the country,” Hassett said.

He cited recent productivity figures to support that claim.

“And you saw, like, the latest productivity numbers are showing something like four, four and a half percent productivity gains,” Hassett said.

“That four, four and a half goes right into GDP, right?”

Hassett argued that these factors explain the current economic expansion more accurately than monetary policy decisions by the Federal Reserve.

He downplayed the role of interest rates, noting that U.S. rates remain elevated compared with those in many other countries.

“And so that’s, you know, I think that’s where the boom comes from,” Hassett said.

“I don’t think it’s really about the Fed, which is basically the interest rates right now at the Fed are quite a bit higher than they are in most other countries.”

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